More kids swallowing magnets, study says

Published 7:28 pm, Thursday, August 15, 2013

Small children swallow things. It's just something they do, said Dr. Anthony Porto, director of pediatric gastroenterology at Greenwich Hospital. And one of the more harmful things they can swallow is magnets.

"This is one of the few pediatric gastroenterology emergencies we see," he said.

A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics showed that incidents of magnet swallowing appear to be on the rise. The study, conducted by researchers in Washington state, showed that from 2002 to 2011, the rate of magnetic foreign-body injuries nearly quadrupled, from .57 cases per 100,000 children to 3.06 cases per 100,000 children.

Swallowing magnets can have serious health effects, as magnets may attract each other through stomach and intestinal tissue and cause perforations that require surgery, although Porto said all the magnet cases he's seen have been treated without serious repercussions.

The reasons for the spike in magnet ingestions are many, including the proliferation of small, powerful magnets marketed to adults as desktop toys. These magnets are roughly the size of BBs or ball-bearings, and have been sold under such brand names as Neocube and BuckyBalls. Though they're not marketed to kids and some have been recalled, little ones still manage to grab them.

Even older children are not immune to their lure. Porto said he treated a teen girl who accidentally swallowed the magnets after using them to simulate a tongue ring. Teens also sometimes inhale the magnets while using them as nose rings, according to the study.

Porto said he sees incidents with magnets every few months or so. If a child or teen ingests just one magnet, it's generally not considered a cause for worry. It's swallowing multiple magnets that's the problem.

Porto said swallowed magnets should be removed, often via surgery, within eight to 12 hours for the best results. If not treated swiftly, magnets can be fatal, he said.

Several other doctors in the region also said swallowed magnets are fairly rare in their practices.

"Fortunately, I've never had to treat a patient with magnet ingestion," said Dr. Rachel Sheiman, a pediatrician with Penfield Pediatrics in Fairfield. But she said, she knows these incidents happen and can be hard for parents to spot.

"We're always talking about the dangers of ingesting" foreign objects, she said.

Of course, Sheiman said, it can be hard to keep track of what your children are grabbing -- and, presumably, putting into their mouth -- particularly if you have more than one child in the house.